Sad goodbyes :(
She allowed me and Will to go on 2 dates, one night for dessert and another night for dinner! We definitely needed that time away from the kids and it was amazing!! Going on "dates" isn't very common in this culture, but for us, having some time to ourselves is very important and Will and I don't get to do it nearly enough, especially while we're here.
We went to dinner at a very neat restaurant overlooking the water and the food was straight out of Chopped Jr.(all of you that have kids and watch this show will know what I'm talking about)!!!
It was a scene straight out of the Bachelor and I could picture the helicopters flying around filming because that's how amazing this location was. It was very romantic! The restaurant staff didn't like that we wanted to walk around and take in the scenery of the restaurant. Apparently it is so romantic that they don't want you standing up and walking around because you could disturb the other happy couples. But the food was delicious and they served us complimentary coconut espresso chocolate fudge (to die for!!!) We are hoping to go back sometime!!
A view from the infinity pool at the hotel by the restaurant
Will has been teaching class on Wednesdays nights and I have been teaching the kids Sunday School class on Sunday mornings. I wrestle with Walker while Will is teaching but this past Wednesday he got a little too wiggly so I took him out and noticed some of our "kids" (the ones that come play in the afternoon) walking towards class so I thought I better go help Denise (the preacher's wife who teaches). Well, I was completely shocked but 10 of the kids came to church Wednesday night!!! 10!!! It made our night. They had been saying they would come but hadn't yet so we were so excited. Keep praying for these kids! We know God is working on something in their lives and we are grateful to hopefully have a small part in that. From what we've heard from the church members, these kids come when there are Americans around and then don't always continue coming when the Americans go home. So please be praying that they will see the love that we have seen from the Villa church members and will keep coming and make connections with the church members too and not just us. This church has so much good going and so much love to share and these kids would be eternally blessed to be apart of this congregation. To get to experience God's love through this church family is such a blessing. Please, keep praying!!
Some of the kids on Wednesday night
A van full after church
We have felt God's presence in our lives so much in the last year with the planning of this trip and in so many other details. The signs of His working in this trip have been so numerous that we can't even count them all. God is big! He even showed us His mercies by the neighbors we have here in Antigua. We met Steve and Joan (and Vivi, their dog, VV is how you say it) on our first day here and it was obvious that we were going to be fast friends. They live here 8 months out of the year and the rest of the year they are in California. They will be leaving soon and we really will be sad. They have unimaginable patience with our children! The girls go out back several times a day (our decks share a railing) and strike up conversations with Steve and Joan and they just listen but then they also engage them in such a sweet way. Mrs. Joan talks to them just like the girls were teenagers of young adults. I think as parents we often times talk to our girls like they are little kids and don't engage them in a real way about real life stuff. Mrs. Joan talks to them like peers in a very loving sweet way and I know it makes the girls feel special. We sometimes have to reign the girls back in so that Steve and Joan don't annoyed by little voices, but today Mrs. Joan was even playing cards with Callan. How precious is that! They have been a wealth of knowledge about the island and pretty much answer any questions we have. Here is the picture we took this week to remember our friends. We have been invited on their boat before they leave so I'm hoping it will happen.
Steve, Joan and Vivi
The pictures are going to be out of order because I'm tired and don't feel like moving them around :)
Pigtails!
FaceTime with Faith and Shannon for Faith's birthday
Mr. Deon brought mangoes from his farm for us to share with the kids
Mango happiness
Mimi, Walker and Kan-niajah
Walker's face after Mimi made him quit eating chalk :)
You never know what you'll, like a cow on a leash
Me and Mimi putting our feet up at ladies bible study after a 6 legged critter crawled by
Mimi & Rosie (who has gifted us with several yummy things to try!!)
Daisy, Mimi and Rosa
Daisy, me and Sandra
Sandra (this is Kenny's mom!!!) and Mimi
Walker has enjoyed Mimi being here to give him treats!
A 4 wheeler in normal afternoon traffic definitely seemed out of place
A tired, hungry and unhappy moment from our sometimes often times hard to deal with 8 year old (sometimes those happen more often than we'd like-ugh...)
Watching an amazing sunset from the "helicopter pad" near our condo
Selfie with Mimi
Mimi brought some dang chips for Lizzie! Look at the flavor and description!!
Waiting on the kids to come
His hair is unstoppable
Jemiay and 2 of her younger siblings-Kan-niajah and Naptaila
Mrs. Daisy bringing us meat patties and passion fruit juice!!! Love this woman! She is a true servant of God. She knew we would be at school on Friday morning, so she stopped by to bring us treats. We had already left the school and she just missed us. All of a sudden we hear someone driving behind us honking and riding our bumper. Ha! It was sweet Mrs. Daisy bringing our two favorite island goodies!
A box full of sunshine! Aren't these Jamaican meat patties beautiful?? They are just as delicious as they look!
Lizzie and Ariel have become big buddies!
For those of you who sent us letters, we got them (at least some of them)!!! FINALLY!! It only took some of them 4-6 weeks to get here. We've gone and asked for our mail twice and they kept telling us we didn't get any but then all of a sudden in one day we got about 10 letters! I'm not sure what happened but we finally have them. Thank you for this!! It really made our day!! Also, just an FYI, don't mail any money or anything crazy because my mom mailed a letter and it had 3 postcards inside 1 for each of the kids. When we got it yesterday it had been opened, postcards removed and then the letter was taped back shut. NOT GOOD!!!
To know him is to love him! Y'all can only imagine how entertaining this FaceTime session with Mark Henderson was. You can see from our faces in the picture that we are laughing at him. We are so thankful for Mark, Sherri and all of the Henderson family! Every time we hear from Mark we are encouraged and we leave the conversation with smile!
3 2 1...Go!!!
